Democratic Rep. Cleo Fields — whose Louisiana district was at the center of the Supreme Court decision gutting a key part of the Voting Rights Act — announced Tuesday that he will not seek reelection and will instead run for his old state Senate seat.
Fields represents the 6th Congressional District, a majority-Black district that encompasses part of Baton Rouge. After the Supreme Court declared the district’s existence an “unconstitutional racial gerrymander,” Louisiana lawmakers passed a new congressional map that redrew Fields’ district to heavily favor Republicans. The new lines left intact only one of the two majority-Black districts in the state ahead of the midterms.
“After a great deal of prayer and reflection, I have decided not to seek re-election to Congress, in the 6th District or any other district in Louisiana,” Fields said in a statement. “I feel my calling to serve the people is better put to use back home than here in D.C., and I intend to answer that call.”